LaFayette considers bringing public water to more parts of town

Maureen Nolan / The Post-StandardLaFayette officials are asking residents to consider creating a public water district that would include the hamlet. From left is town Councilor Bill McConnell, who is directing the project for the town board, LaFayette resident Peter Grevelding, who was part of an effort in 1992 to create a water district and engineer Gregory Sgromo, whose firm was hired by the town to work on the project.

LaFayette officials are pitching a plan to bring public water to a good chunk of the town, including the hamlet, but the water won't flow without approval from residents of the proposed district.

The town will hold a public meeting on the proposal from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the large group instruction room at the LaFayette Junior-Senior High School.

The proposed gravity fed system would provide water from the Onondaga County Water Authority and cost a projected $5.9 million, town Councilor Bill McConnell said.

The town board is working to secure government grants, including federal economic stimulus money, to help cut the cost to property owners in the proposed water district. They will be assessed for the cost, if they vote for water. McConnell thinks the town has a good chance at getting at least $1 million in grant money for the project.

The district would lie roughly between Sentinel Heights Road and Route 11 from the town line south to the community health center on Route 11 just past Route 20; east on Route 20 to the railroad bridge' west on Route 20 to the McDonald's restaurant, plus the area between Route 11 and Sentinel Heights Road, according Dunn & Sgromo Engineers, hired by the town to work on the project.

In McConnell's estimation, public water would bring multiple benefits. For one, he said, it would allow for fire hydrants in the district, which could mean a better fire insurance rating for the entire town. That could mean lower insurance costs for property owners. The town's fire insurance rating recently tumbled.

Now, wells potentially can be contaminated by septic systems on relatively small lots and public water would eliminate that risk, McConnell said. Quality of water would improve, dried up wells in the summer would no longer be a problem and people would no longer have to pay to regularly have their water tested, he said.

The water authority would limit the amount of water for the district to 300,000 gallons a day, which would in turn limit development in the district, McConnell said.

"The issue becomes quality of life issues, not growth issues," he said.

The town looked at the potential for public water in the area back in 1992, said Peter Grevelding, a LaFayette resident was on the planning board back then. He is also an engineer and proposed a gravity fed system at the time, but the district never happened, Grevelding said.

He does not live in the proposed water district but said he wishes he did. He's on his third well and has spent some $20,000 over 30 years to keep good water flowing at his house, he said.

"If I had water I'd hook up in a heartbeat," Grevelding said.

This time around, the town has been studying the issue for about five years, hired Dunn & Sgromo and studied several options. The best and most affordable is the gravity fed system, McConnell said.